# 2024 Washington Initiative 2124

Initiative No. 2124 (I-2124) was a ballot initiative in the US State of Washington that appeared on the November 5, 2024 ballot. The initiative, if passed, would have made participation in Washington's state-run long term health insurance program (WA Cares) voluntary rather than mandatory. The initiative was one of six brought to the state legislature by Let's Go Washington, a Redmond-based political action committee founded by businessman and hedge fund manager Brian Heywood.

## Background

The program known as WA Cares has its roots in the Long-Term Services and Supports Trust Act (Trust Act), which the Washington state legislature passed in 2019. WA Cares is a program is a first-in-the-nation program that provides coverage for long term care costs for Washingtonians, though with a lifetime maximum benefit that started at $36,500 (and whose cap was indexed to inflation). Under the Trust Act, all workers in the state would be required to contribute to the program unless they had acquired private long term care insurance by 2021. Workers pay a 0.58% tax on their income (which began in July 2023) and become eligible for the benefits in July of 2026.
WA Cares became one of six issues selected by the Let's Go Washington PAC in 2023 to be included in an initiative petition campaign. The argument made by the organization was that the existing benefit was inadequate to meet citizen needs and that the benefits were not portable. A total of 2.6 million signatures were collected across the 6 issues, including the WA Cares repeal effort, which cleared 324,516 signature threshold required for issue consideration for the 2024 election cycle. I-2124 was the last of the six initiatives to be submitted for consideration. I-2124 was certified by the Secretary of State on January 23, 2024, and introduced to the state legislature on January 29, 2024. In February of 2024, Democratic legislative leaders ruled out any movement on I-2124 in the legislature itself, putting the initiative on track for consideration by the public during the 2024 general election.

## Language and impact

I-2117 placed the following question before the citizens of Washington:
   Initiative Measure No. 2124 concerns state long term care insurance.
   This measure would provide that employees and self-employed people must elect to keep coverage under RCW 50B.04 and could opt-out any time. It would also repeal a law governing an exemption for employees.
   Should this measure be enacted into law? Yes [ ] No [ ]
If passed, I-2124 would have created an opt-out option which would repeal the payroll tax for those opting out but also make them ineligible for the benefit. However, the decrease in payroll tax revenues could create what some insurers call a "death spiral", causing the program to become insolvent within a few years of beginning to pay out benefits.

## Support for I-2124

As of October 31, 2024, Let's Go Washington and the Taxpayers Accountability Alliance are registered as sponsors of the initiative.

## Opposition to I-2124

As of October 31, 2024, the 45th district Democratic Party, the AARP No on I-2124 Committee, Defend Washington, Fuse Voters, the No on 2124 PAC, Protect Washington, the SEIU 775 Ballot Fund, and the Stop Greed PAC are registered as opponents of the initiative.

## Public opinion on I-2124

| Poll | Sponsor | Dates | Margin of Error | Mode | Sample Size | Support | Oppose | Undecided |
| SurveyUSA | Seattle Times, KING-TV, & UW Center for an Informed Public | Oct 9–14, 2024 | ± 5% | Online | 703 LV | 28% | 49% | 23% |
| Elway | Cascade PBS | Oct 8–12, 2024 | ± 5% | Live Phone & Text | 401 LV | 45% | 33% | 22% |
| Elway | Cascade PBS | Sep 3–6, 2024 | ± 5% | Live Phone & Text | 403 RV | 39% | 33% | 27% |
| SurveyUSA | Seattle Times, KING-TV, & UW Center for an Informed Public | July 10–13, 2024 | ± 5% | Online | 708 LV | 52% | 27% | 22% |
| Scott Rasmussen National Survey | | May 20–23, 2024 | ± 3.5% | | 800 RV | 58% | 29% | 14% |
| Elway | Cascade PBS | May 13–16, 2024 | ± 5% | Live Phone & Text | 403 RV | 47% | 25% | 28% |
| GBAO Strategies | Defend Washington | April 11–14, 2024 | ± 4% | Live Phone & Text | 600 LV | 41% | 49% | 10% |

## Results

I-2124 failed with less than 45% of ballots cast in favor.